EXCLUSIVE-Penn West asset sale draws at least four bids -sources

TORONTO, June 8 (Reuters) - Canadian energy producer Penn
West Petroleum Ltd has received at least four
bids from companies for its Viking light oil assets as it races
to avoid a default, according to sources familiar with the
matter.

Bidders include Raging River Exploration Inc,
Crescent Point Energy Corp, Whitecap Resources Inc
and Teine Energy, said the sources, who declined to be
named because they were not authorized to comment on the
process.

The Calgary-based company, which is working with Royal Bank
of Canada on the sale, is seeing strong demand for the
assets, which could fetch more than C$500 million ($395
million), according to the sources.

Shares of Penn West, already up more than 6 percent due to
stronger oil prices, shot up another 4 percentage points after
the news of the bidders was published. As of 11:50 a.m. ET (1550
GMT) they traded 8 percent higher at C$1.30 in Toronto.

Penn West has been under enormous financial pressure in
recent weeks over its large debt burden, and said last month it
might default on its debt at the end of the second quarter. At
the time, it also raised doubts about its ability to continue as
a going concern.

A slump in oil prices over the past two years has hit energy
producers, and highly leveraged companies such as Penn West have
struggled as a result.

Penn West's Viking assets, which produce almost 20,000
barrels of oil equivalent daily, are important to the company,
and its willingness to sell them highlights the financial state
the company is in. It has reported net losses in the past three
years and carries net debt of about C$1.9 billion.
Continued...